legender ceo of general electric, jack welch, who joins us right now. jack, you made a lot of news today. here is the tweet you put out this morning. unbelievable jobs numbers. these chicago guys will do anything. can't debate so change numbers. and i'm just wondering, i understand the way it works is the president gets a heads-up on the unemployment number 4:00 the day before and has to keep it to himself. you're saying in your tweet this morning that the news went the other way, that the people working for the president somehow got the bls, the bureau of labor statistics, and played with the numbers so it would come down below 8% today. how does it work from your perspective? what happened here? >> well, chris, all i can talk about are some of the numbers. we had 600,000 government jobs added in the last two months. we had 873,000 jobs by a household survey, which is a total estimate from 50,000 phone calls. of those 600,000 were temporary workers. chris, these numbers are all a series of assumptions, tons of assumptions, and it just seems somewhat coincidental that the month bef

the band is the legendary ceo of general electric, jack welch. jack, you made a lot of news today. here's the tweet you put out this morning. unbelievable jobs numbers. these chicago guys will do anything. can't debate, so change numbers. and i'm just wondering, i understand the way it works the president gets a heads up on the unemployment number 4:00 the day before and has to keep it to himself. you're saying in your tweet this morning that the news went the other way, the people working for the president somehow got the bureau of labor statistics and played with the numbers so it's down below 8 today. how does it work from your perspective? what happened here? >> all i can talk about are some of the numbers. we had 600,000 government jobs added in the last two months. we had 873,000 jobs by a household survey, which is a total estimate, from 50,000 phone calls. of those 600,000 were temporary workers. chris, these numbers are all a series of assumptions. tons of assumptions. and it just seems somewhat coincidental that the month before the election the numbers go 0.1% below whe

like something i'd hear from jack welch. unbelievable job numbers, fair enough. these chicago guys will do anything to change the numbers. what evidence do you have to the chicago guys got to the bureau of labor statistics and jimmied these numbers by 0.3%. >> i have no evidence. i just raised the question. >> you didn't raise the question. you are asserting in your tweet that you put out at 8:35 this morning, five minutes after the report came out that did you talk to the economists or anyone who understand how the numbers were put together before you accused the chicago guys of changing the numbers? >> chris, i know these numbers are gathered by a series of wild assumptions, maybe they weren't right at 8.5. maybe they weren't right at 8.4. but it seems coincidental that one month before the election, they would end up at 7.8. the president today is on the stump. the president, all he's talked about is 7.8. he didn't mention 600,000 jobs added in the government sector. >> see -- it's not your attitude about obama people care about, it's your analysis. you came out this morning and

both sides of the aisle. jack welch is almost famous or infamous by now. jack welch, the former ceo of general electric, tweeting out that, you know, the innuendo that the bureau of labor statistics had cooked the books. that was called utter nonsense by the deputy white house spokesman. others, including jared bernstein, who is an economist here until recently in the white house, said that welch should be ashamed of himself. you know, he's sort of out there on an island, jack welch. he was on "hardball" last night and he said he wouldn't take a word back of that tweet, but he admitted he had no evidence the to back it up. again, there are people on both sides of the aisle who are rushing to defend the integrity of the people who get those numbers together every month, melissa. >> the president said the burden is now on congress. what is it that the president now wants congress to do? >> reporter: congress is not coming back until after the election. that is clear. and the first order of business at the lame duck session is what to do about the fiscal cliff, this whammy, this triple wh

the unemployment numbers. former chairman and ceo of ge jack welch tweeted -- welch was backed in his theorizing by master of the outlandish alan west who wrote -- this is orwellian to say the least and representative of saul au lin ski tactics from the book rules for radicals" a must read for all who want to know how the left strategize. what's that you say, a strengthening work force and recovering economy or wellien indeed. >> they want to slow the economy before the election and if you don't believe that -- >> that was a year and a half ago. >> i have a bridge i want to sell you in oakland. that's what the republicans and obstructionists in congress is about. >> joining us is cnbc's amman jabbers. you're the man with the answers. mitt romney is walking on stage and we'll have to go to him shortly but is it a good day for the american economy or not, tell us? >> it's definitely a good day. the auto sales number was good, consumer confidence up, but we had truthers, birthers and now we've got jobbers, these people who don't believe the government data here and to those people i

acknowledging the positive news, jack welch led a group of lesser lights saying the numbers must have been manipulated by the obama administration and that the unemployment rate couldn't really be below 8%. jon stewart weighed in. >> it's gotting to corrupt political manipulation of the official statistics. what else would explain why after unemployment has been steadily declining for the last year that now suddenly right before the election it declines a little more? please. >> a lot of people are saying that the government's cooking the books here. >> i'll tell you these guys are saying they feel like they cooked the books. >> look, i got to say, if you're cooking the books, 7.8% unemployment is at [ bleep ] recipe. it's like the radish stew of jobless numbers. if you're cooking, make a nice jambalaya, something nice for people. unemployment is 2.6%. >> enough said. >>> with the election just weeks away positive news about the economy ignites desperation among angry republicans. last time i told but republican congressman paul brown, the member of the house science committee who called t

. business pioneer jack welch basically calls these numbers into question. had this remark that he tweeted out earlier today saying, unbelievable jobs numbers. these chicago guys will do anything, can't debate, so change numbers. what do you say to that? even the white house though right now this morning reluctant to spike the football on this. in their statement saying it is critical we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle cla class as we dig our way out of a deep hole. what is your response to those questioning the validity? >> that's really interesting because i happened to see one of those chicago guys last night. i was with david axelrod. i asked him what do you expect about the jobs numbers? he says, i really don't know. we're hoping it will be good. so, you know, it doesn't surprise me that romney supporters are now going to take this very good news for the economy and for americans and say somehow the books were cooked. they just cannot stand, and they haven't been able to tolerate any good news about the economy, that somehow -- they

skeptics that are crying foul. chief is the former g.e. ceo jack welch. unbelievable job numbers. they can't debate so they change the numbers. he appeared earlier today on "your world." >> these numbers don't smell right when you think about where the economy is right now. every economist predicted roughly 90,000 to 120,000. this economy doesn't feel like the employment improved this level. it is just -- maybe it's a coincidence that the month before the election, we have a number that comes out 1/10th below when the president took office. >> sean: jack welch is not the only one tawing of this timely development. listen to what business insider said on fox business new york this morning. >> i feel like i am watching a movie, a suspense movie. because there is no way in the world these numbers are accurate. and somebody needs to dig real deep into this. how in the world, miraculously, we have the best flz 30 years, right before the election? somebody needs to do an investigation, like they are doing an investigation in libbia. they need to investigate the numbers because there is no wa

dollars in damages for what it claims is more than a decade's worth of mortgage fraud. >>> jack welch, the former head of general electric, will no longer contribute to reuters news and fortune magazine. welch's decision comes in the wake of controversy sparked by a tweet he sent last week suggesting the white house manipulated job numbers for political gain. >>> a doggy daycare outside of chicago has stepped in it with the nation's coffee chain. starbucks is asking star barks to change it name and its logo so that customers aren't confused. >>> and could these shoes be coming to a shoe store near you some us ladies hope not. the so-called scary beautiful heels are backwards so it makes the feet point straight down like a ballerina. the designer says the shoes are a commentary on today's impossible standards of beauty. and apparently impossible to walk in. >>> san francisco stays alive, a bountygate update, and the space jump will have to wait. plus the athletics steal game three from the tigers. that's all coming up in sports. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. yeah. yeah. then how'd

best two years in several decades during this recovery. >> you know, jack welch, the former ceo of ge, he tweeted this because he didn't believe these numbers. he tweeted "unbelievable jobs numbers. these chicago guys will do anything. can't debate so change numbers." now, there are others who are suggesting there was political influence over the bureau of labor statistics that are driving these numbers, trying to make the president look good only a few weeks before the election. you're familiar with the economists, the statisticians who work there. what do you say to these folks who see some conspirator yal involvement out there. >> that's totally, totally insane. i'm friend with jack welch and i tweeted him back. i said, jack, i love you, but on this one you've just flat out lost your mind. there's an ironclad firewall with criminal penalties for anybody at the bls to have any kind of political interference or to release any of the numbers early. it's totally impossible to do that. you've seen all the reputable republicans that have worked with the bureau of labor statistics in t

, to jack welch? >> well, again, you know, i think what we just heard from charles, who is a prominent liberal, is exactly part of i think this problem, is that we whittle around the fact that when liberals are intolerant, we can't say it for some reason. we have to pretend like it's -- everyone is intolerant and we just can't say look, it's wrong to go after stacey because she's decided as a black woman to support mitt romney. >> who didn't say that? i just said that. >> let me finish. >> what are you talking about? i just said that. >> you actually didn't say that. >> i said it was wrong to go after stacey. are you seriously saying that i didn't say that? >> what i'm saying, charles, is that you can't just say that intolerance exists. what you need to be able to do is say when liberals are intolerant that it's wrong and call them out on it. you are somebody who they look up to. if you said it, if you called it out without having piers morgan pull it out of you, it -- >> nobody pulled anything out of me. understand this. >> i didn't hear you say it, charles. >> nobody has to

happened to her and also to jack welch, who has been a regular guest on this show and i like him very much, he's been a brilliant businessman in america, done more for the american economy than many people, he got absolutely eviscerated this week. there's no other way to describe it. you may not agree with what he said. he was questioning the jobs figures and maybe with hindsight he should have used a question mark. but the level of vitriol rained down on his head again for one tweet basically saying come on, these figures don't quite make sense, i found that pretty objectionable. rick, what do you make of what happened to him, to jack welch? >> well, again, you know, i think what we just heard from charles, who is a prominent liberal, is exactly part of i think this problem, is that we whittle around the fact that when liberals are intolerant, we can't say it for some reason. we have to pretend like it's -- everyone is intolerant and we just can't say look, it's wrong to go after stacey because she's decided as a black woman to support mitt romney. >> who didn't say that? i just

gone here if they want to come on and make the points. you're very good at it. howard, jack welch was here friday, he did all right. >> i would say it doesn't feel -- i get what the mayor is saying but it doesn't quite feel wlik the chorus you're talking about for some reason. speaking of surrogates, what about the entertainment people? they love barack obama. get out of l.a. and get on the road. >> go to your hometown and tell people what you think. never talk out of l.a., never talk out of new york. i say this to every celebrity i know, go home where you came from, talk to the people you grew up with. >> all advice appreciated. we're moving on to win on election day on november 6th. >> it's free. anyway, coming up -- thank you, mr. mayor. coming up, mitt romney attacks president obama on foreign policy saying if he were president, he would heat up and prolong every war front in the world, iraq, afghanistan, syria. more war, continuous war, new wars. that's the romney plan. >>> also, joe the first responder. he's taken guff for his gaffes and been lampooned on "snl" but surprise, sur

things not to mention jack welch trying to undermine the latest unemployment numbers. he has dogs out there, romney, dogs that do the barking for him, and the president doesn't even have nice guys and women out there making noise for him. your thoughts? >> first of all, i mean, i think it's pretty clear from the convention and from the debate last week, mitt romney is a shameless lying chameleon. he will say anything, he will do anything. the same is true with his running mate, paul ryan. unfortunately, we'll probably hear more of that this week. we do have a great surrogate team and they're on the ground in their respective cities or states. they move around. i certainly move around. you talk about deval patrick, i'm in chicago, rahm emanuel, stephanie rawlings-blake in baltimore, kasim reed, the list goes on and on. we have the best candidate in president obama and vice president biden. we have the greatest surrogate team, and they're on the ground in those places where there are real people with real issues and real problems, and they're talking about the things that the president

of a conspiracy to cook the books in the bureau of labor statistics. jack welch tweeted, former cege, who kno -- ceo of ge, he says this is unbelievable. they're messing with the numbers. steve forbes, former gop presidential candidate, berkeley man himself, retweeted it and said, jack is right. and then there was this entire universe. i joked about it. you're out of your mind if you don't think these numbers were cooked. yesterday jack welch went on my colleague "chris matthews show" and this is what transpired. >> you put out the word here, unbelievable jobs numbers, fair enough. these chicago guys will do anything so they change the numbers. what evidence do you have that they got to the bos? the chicago guys got to the bureau of labor statistics and jimmied these numbers by .3%. >> i have no evidence, i just raised the question. >> you came out and asserted not a question mark or talked about a coincidence, you said these chicago guys will do anything so they change the numbers. do you want to take that back? jimmying with these numbers. there was corruption here, infiltration, g

better. >> i think it's the opposite of what jack welch was saying. we talk about jack welch and what he said and the conspiracy theory, but the thing is, he said given the economy -- >> that's not even what i'm getting at. >> people feel fundamentally better about the state of the economy. >> did i say i love jack welch? >> forget what jack welch said. i'm talking about people who are trying to say that perhaps people have given up. and if you look into the numbers of the bureau of labor and statistics put out, the number of people who are discouraged and have given up has gone down in the past year by 235,000. and in the past four years, by over 400,000. that number is being skewed out there by those who want to say that the job numbers aren't what they appear to be. long-term unemployment is still very, very high, but those people are still looking. >> the u-6 number for those cognizant. >> coming up -- >> you're right. republicans are in the dumps. you're right. >> no, they're trying to pretend the numbers that they depend on when they're good in their camp. >> you can't have it a

last 20 years that he's been averaging. also it was a tweet heard around the world. jack welch questioning the jobs report last friday. today he is using a few more than 140 characters to explain. we're going to talk about his op ed. at 8:00 a.m., jack will be calling into the show to talk about things. all of that coming up. on the lighter side of things, we'll be talking sports. in baseball, the playoffs last night. the a's beating the tigers 2-0. detroit now leads the series 2-1. the reds lost 2-1, but cincinnati still leads the series two games to one. we'll have more in squawk sports at 6:20 eastern. that's a good one i was watching. the next hour, we'll talk about golf. rhys jones is our guest host. he designs courses. andrew, good morning. >> thank you, becky. let's talk about earnings, starting with alco waalcoa. stronger demand for aluminum products, from airplanes and automobile producers. this offset weak aluminum prices and worries about china's slumping economy and that's probably the bigger and more important piece of all of this. the ceo cautioning that the company's noticed

pollsters are on the payroll of the obama campaign. jack welch, okay he is a conservative, but you still thought of him as still a pretty reasonable guy right? >> i always did yeah. he used to play golf with bill clinton. but now he's a whacko. yeah, that the obama campaign could actually doctor these numbers? come on. just accept the fact! it's working. peter is calling from miami. >> caller: hey, bill last week i wanted to talk to you when you were talking about obama and his performance, and one of the things i wanted to say is what would they have been saying if he would have been on the aggressive side, would they be saying there's the angry black guy? >> bill: you know that's what some people would have said for sure. >> caller: absolutely. but i was reading an article about the score for the obama, the deficit going down. >> bill: yeah and they always try to take the good news and turn it into bad news. >> caller: i know it's crazy. but back to the debate peter. it was not the president's best night. and certainly he has bounced back from that. >> caller: he didn't have to do that

that jack welch is going to be on "your world" with neil cavuto this afternoon. he can back up his reason for putting the tweet out there and yes thinks there is more than the numbers in play here. matt, really it comes down to people and what their psychology is about how they feel in their life. we know that 60%, something like that believe that things are on the wrong trafpblgt i mean, you know, you can't fool people into thinking they have a job because the number looks pwefplts. >> it's a great point, whether it's 7.8 or 8.8, does the average person know the difference? no. it's just a number. but what they do feel is when they wake up in the morning if they are getting an unemployment check or wake up, taking a shower and going to work. that is a very big difference. it may be their neighbors or family. if you feel like things were much better than they were four years ago economically, yeah maybe the president is doing something for you. the majority of the people i speak with do not feel that way it makes a good headline but i don't think it gives him the boost that he need

heal. others not so sure. jack welch tweeted this moments ago. unbelievable jobs numbers. these chicago guys will do anything, can't debate so change numbers end quote. martha: hilda so liz says that that notion is lewd today rust. joined by chris wallace anchor of fox news sunday . good morning, chris. >> good to be with you. martha: what do you make about the backlash for this 7.8 number? >> it's understandable, because it's good news for president obama at a time when he very much needed it. the fact is that he had a bad debate, that his campaign was raoeulgs a reeling, is an overstatement but hit a serious pothole. and the talking point, which is that the unemployment rate under this president has been over 8% for 48 months, they can't say that any more. and obviously some romney supporters aren't happy about that. martha: whenever you look at the economic numbers i always wonder. obviously as you point out the president's detractors will try to mine mice the number and the president will build it up. it's down to everyone's individual economic reality. if it's true that the

historically low. there is an uptick of 0.1%. these numbers don't add up. you said jack welch who has been called by many the ceo of the past quarter century, a guy we know very well. jack welch has an opinion on this. >> he has a tweet being widely retweeted. i read from jack's certified twitter account. unbelievable job numbers. these chicago guys will do anything. can't debate so change numbers. >> okay. >> that's quite a charge. >> by jack and mark barnicle, we know jack. he's nonpartisan. >> not going there. he said that with a wink, right? >> i don't know. >> jack? >> let me tell you something seriously. these numbers don't add up. they just don't. again, i've got no dog in the fight here as far as the numbers go. >> you want them to be good. >> we all want them to be good. my dad was unemployed. i always, you know, conservatives always get angry at me when i cheer good economic news. but mike these numbers don't add up. it doesn't make sense it would drop to 7.8% with a weak participation rate and anemic number of jobs added. >> look, i am totally unqualified to weave my way th

will take place. i want to let you know about the story on jack welch, the former chairman of general electric appeared he was dropped as a columnist from "fortune" magazine and reuters.com after he tweeted out questions in a tweet, the bureau of labor statistics job numbers, the 7.8% unemployment numbers. here he is in "the wall street journal," "i was right about that strange jobs report." ohio, independent, john, good morning to you. caller: good morning. glad to join your conversation. about affirmative action, i think we are really at a stage where we should basically say that everyone is equal. if there is discrimination, we should take aggressive action, but if we just treat everyone equally, i think that we would make better progress achieving equality. ho: ok. john from ohio, an independent there. another story, from "the new york times." "u.s. military sent to jordan on syria crisis." mostly this military unit is helping jordan handle the estimated at 180,000 syrian refugees who have crossed the border and are severely straining the country's resources. foreign policy is to